After a 3-day-2-night stay in the jungle doing ‘camping in style’, I am SO SO glad that we are back home. To civilization!  During our stay in the forest reserve, we were  up close and personal with nature. Though the rustic villa at Ratu Rening was breathtaking, I just could not live comfortably without an ensuite toilet / bathroom in our bedroom. We had to climb up and down stairs and walk briefly (less than a minute) in the forest in the rain to reach our toilet where we would be greeted by a mishmash of jungle insects and creatures (lots of dragon fly, jungle roaches, baby frogs, camouflage insects, ants, lizards, etc) in the toilet when we visited the toilet in the wee hours of the morning *shudder*.  Cass was terrified of using the toilet each time and would stay frozen in a stationery position clutching on to me, lest the jungle insects flew to her direction.
Though the rooms are modern, there are still plenty of jungle insects inside them. Only 2 rooms are 99% enclosed to the top. The other rooms are open, leaving creatures and insects roaming freely into the open rooms! The two most adventurous couples chose the open rooms, sans air-cond. Thankfully it only drizzled on the two nights we stayed there. Had it rained cats and dogs, our friends occupying the open rooms would have been  wet.
I told the girls that they were camping in style in the jungle and that if they had so much complaints with insects and no ensuite bathroom, they have failed miserably and will never have the guts to camp in the jungle in tents sans toilets and bathrooms like how I used to when I was a teenager, where hiking and camping were my forte. Â I even did a 1-day solo camp in the deep jungle during a 10-day wilderness adventure camp in Lumut. Yup I was that brave and dirt-resistant but that’s history now.
Our stay at Ratu Rening Residency brought me down memory lane. The loud sounds of insects filling the still of the night as we slept, the walk in the forest to the toilet in chilly air in the wee hours of the morning, the smell of nature, sharing our beds with jungle insects, the hike in muddy terrain to the waterfall, peeing in the wild (haha!), swimming in the waterfall, the BBQ at night, remind me of my camping days in 1987 – 1989. I am in awe that Cass has so much energy to reach the waterfall first and to return to our villa first, along with other kids during the 3-hour hike to and fro the waterfall. Â The owner of the villa stated in her website that this place is not suitable for kids below 12 years old. I am so glad that Cass survived living in the wilderness.
That’s the aftermath of our 3-day-2-night forest retreat – loads of wet and muddy clothes and shoes. Â I did 5 rounds of laundry today and my house now looks like a make-shift laundry shop.
I can’t wait to plonk myself onto my cosy bed now!
To be continued with more pix of our forest retreat and our challenging 3-hour hike in the jungle to a beautiful waterfall with pristine water and scenery…
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